Nokia’s Q4 results reflect challenging times

Nokia has reported a net loss of €1.07 billion (US$1.4 billion) for the fourth-quarter of the year as revenues also fell by 21 per cent to €10 billion. The company dropped into a loss due to a €1.1 billion impairment charge at its location services division.

Smartphone sales fell by 23 per cent compared to a year ago, but by less than analysts had expected.

"Overall, we are pleased with the performance of our mobile phones business, which benefited in Q4 from sequential double-digit percentage growth in our dual SIM business, with particular strength in India, Middle East and Africa and South East Asia," commented Stephen Elop, Nokia’s CEO.

He did highlight that there has been an acceleration in the "anticipated trend towards lower-priced smartphones with specifications that are different from Symbian’s traditional strengths." He warned therefore that the company will sell fewer Symbian devices than originally expected.

In Q411, Nokia received the first quarterly platform support payment of US$250 million from Microsoft. It in turn will have made unspecified payments for the Windows Phone OS licences and support services.

On a year-on-year basis, the decline in total Devices & Services volumes in the fourth quarter was driven by significantly lower smart device volumes. Nokia shipped 113.5 million mobile devices in Q4, down eight per cent year-on-year, and up six per cent sequentially.

Nokia Siemens Networks saw an operating profit of €67 million, compared to €1 million in the prior-year, on sales of €3.8 billion, down from €4 billion.